New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) Shipping and waterways will play a vital role in enhancing India’s exports as the country is headed to become the third largest economic power, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur, said on Thursday.

Addressing a conference on exports logistics organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, the minister emphasised that equal and balanced focus on development of each sector is crucial.

Thakur highlighted that reduction of the turnaround time of ships in the transportation of goods is of paramount importance. “As 70 per cent of trade happens through shipping, there is a need for vast development of the shipping industry, ” Thakur pointed out.

He also said that the use of artificial intelligence is an imperative for deeper development of the shipping and logistics sector.

The minister mentioned the need for improved communication to establish a robust connectivity infrastructure, spanning from the Northeast region to the Northwest part of India, encompassing both first mile and last-mile connections.

Speaking at the conference, Rajesh Agrawal, Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, highlighted three important factors in India’s logistics journey. First, the container revolution played an important role in enhancing the role of Global Value Chains (GVC).

He further emphasised the significance of India’s ongoing and past free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations in enhancing India’s participation in GVCs, adding that identification of gaps in multimodal transportation and bringing all stakeholders together will bring down the logistics cost, driving exports and growth in India’s economy.

Secondly, Agrawal mentioned that there is a need for more air cargo space, port space, rail and road space, in addition to enhancing cold chain logistics in India’s agriculture sector.

He further highlighted that to achieve Net Zero by 2027, there is a need to see that the logistics journey that India embarks upon is sustainable, with minimum carbon footprint.

Vijay Kumar, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority, deliberated on India’s transformative journey and the role of Inland Waterways in actualising India’s ambitious goal of achieving $2 trillion in exports by 2030, and net zero emission target by 2070.

“If the cost of logistics has to be brought down to single digit, we have to meet the twin goals of economy and sustainability, then inland waterways transport is the solution,” he added.

Kumar also discussed the crucial steps taken by the government to address major industry issues including water availability and draft variability, highlighting the importance of multimodal connectivity and cargo aggregation hubs to bring down first mile and last mile costs.

–IANS

sps/na